Uneasy Quiet Throughout Palestine As Jews Prepare for Today’s General Strike

An uneasy quiet prevailed in Palestine today following a clash yesterday in which seven Jews were injured, and on the eve of tomorrow’s general strike.

The British officer in charge of the Arab Transjordan Frontier Force, which yesterday fired into a group of Jews near the colony of Kfar Giladi, today apologized to the settlers, declaring that his soldiers had fired without his orders. Responsible Jewish circles, meanwhile, ridiculed the official communique describing the incident, which charged that several Jews armed with sticks attacked the soldiers causing them to fire. The Jewish leaders said that it was difficult to believe that men armed only with sticks would attack an armed detachment of troops.

The official communique describes the events which occurred at Kfar Giladi as follows: About 70 illegal immigrants were intercepted early Saturday morning neer Kfar Giladi by a patrol of the Transjordan Frontier Force, which attempted to stop them. The illegal immigrants, however, succeeded in reaching the colony without incident, but later the Transjordan Frontier Force threw a cordon around the colony. About 3 p.m. the cordon was attacked by colonists from the neighboring colony of Tel Hai, armed with sticks, who attempted to disarm the TJFF detachment, which opened fire, wounding seven Jews, one of them seriously. The attackers were allowed to enter Kfar Giladi, taking the wounded with them. The cordon withdrew at 5 p.m. and the situation is now quiet.